


Die Shitting, Asshole

by ShadowGale96



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: I kinda love this prompt, M/M, Soulmates AU, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-30 23:08:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19037398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowGale96/pseuds/ShadowGale96
Summary: Words appeared on Erwin’s right arm when he was four years old. They were the first words his soulmate would speak to him. It was always a special occasion to get your words, but for some reason his father goes tight lipped when he sees, and he won't tell Erwin what it says.





	Die Shitting, Asshole

Words appeared on Erwin’s right arm when he was four years old.

Grown-up’s had told him about it. How one day your soulmate’s first words to you would manifest on your skin. It was in books, it was on TV, and the patches of words that ran down everyone’s arms didn’t go unnoticed from Erwin’s eager eyes. Sometimes it would take years to happen. Sometimes the words wouldn’t even be in a language you knew. But when and how the words appeared didn’t matter. Receiving them was always a special occasion.

Or at least that’s what he had always been told.

His dad went tight lipped and wide eyed when he saw it. And much to Erwin’s dismay, he wouldn’t tell him what it said.

Erwin remembers the look of horror on his preschool teacher's faces when they saw, and how he had to sit in an office as people told his father that his words weren’t ‘appropriate’ for a school environment.

That was when he got his first sleeve.

Of course, Erwin wasn’t the first child ‘this’ had ever happened to. It was uncommon, but not unheard of. He hadn’t known the reasoning behind the sleeves until he needed one himself. He was told he wasn’t allowed to remove it unless he was home, but Erwin still didn’t quite understand, and no one would explain what was wrong with his words. The colorful designs didn’t make his feeling of disappointment and unease about the whole thing go away.

He didn’t know why he wasn’t allowed to take off his sleeve in public. Occasionally, he would see another kid with something similar but not often. And no one in his class had one either. During school, Erwin’s eyes found themselves drawn to the bare skin of his other classmates. Some had words, some didn’t, but for some reason Erwin’s words weren’t allowed to be seen.

A few years after that, he understood. No, the words on his arm weren’t good at all. People described them as profane and inappropriate. Those comments only filled Erwin with a sense of shame.

Unfortunately, it was always one of the first things most people noticed when they met him. He grew tired of the questions that followed:  “What does it say?”, “Oh my god. How bad is it!?”, “I know a guy that had _____ written on him”. The ones that upset him the most were the ones about the person behind the words: “Wow, your soulmate must hate you.”

People constantly made those snap judgments. Other kids made jokes, wondering what type of trashy or hateful person Erwin was destined to end up with. It wasn’t until then that Erwin realized that just because you’re destined to be connected to someone; it doesn’t always mean that it’s a good connection. That realization created a new fear. Maybe he was fated to be with someone he didn’t truly love. Maybe they’d never truly love him either.

He didn’t have much of a dating life in high school. As much as he tried to forget about the words ingrained into his arm, he was reminded of them every time he spoke to a girl or guy who’d taken an interest. With every first meeting, he was only reminded of the fact that this was not his soulmate.

* * *

On an ordinary day in the middle of the school year, Erwin was sitting in the passenger seat next to his best friend Mike as they pulled into the school parking lot to begin yet another day. Erwin adjusted his sleeve as Mike pulled up his bag from the back seat. Mike had already found his soulmate. With little more to go on than a simple ‘ _Oh’_ on his arm, she’d come into his life during one of their away games last month.

It was so short and simple Mike thought he’d never find them. Erwin couldn’t help but feel a little envious though. It was simple, and he knew it had been a cause of stress for Mike, worrying he’d walk right passed his soulmate being none the wiser. But, at least Mike’s words weren’t like his.

“Hey…” Mike’s calm voice yanked Erwin out of his thoughts.

Erwin blinked meeting his friends gaze. There was a bit of concern behind Mike’s otherwise firm expression. “Hey.” Erwin echoed back. Leaving Mike to make the next move. He was never much a talker so Erwin banked on that being the end of it.

Suddenly, an annoying chopping penetrated the solitude of the car.

Erwin peeked out the window at the oddity seeing a bike roll into the parking lot. He didn’t know anyone who had a motorcycle. The noise roared on as the rider circled the lot. Scoping it out like a predator.

“What an ass.” Mike murmured.

Erwin didn’t comment. His eyes lingered on the man circling for a moment, but it still hardly distracted him from his life’s frustrations. In fact, for some reason, it made it worse. He itched at an annoying feeling tingling up the skin of his arm.

“You’ll find them.” Mike assured, assuming that was the problem weighing on Erwin’s mind.

“Maybe it’s better if I don’t.” Erwin reluctantly sighed gathering his things.

He could feel Mike’s eyes on his arm. There was a moment of silence between them. “You never know what the context is.”

“It seems pretty obvious that it’s not a good context.”

With his bag in hand, Erwin grabbed the handle of the door and pushed it open.

Mike’s eyes widened. “Whoa Wait!”

But the door was already opening. The chopping sound of an engine suddenly became overbearingly loud, but it didn’t mask the horrid sound of metal screeching against metal. Erwin caught sight of the back of a motorcycle swerving away from the impact of the door.

 _Damnit_. Erwin’s mind groaned.

Erwin looked back at Mike who was already giving him a cautious expression. Yeah, he fucked up. Erwin’s eyes trailed away from Mike and toward the black motorcycle and its rider slowing to a halt into the parking spot in front of them. There was a long claw like scratch along the side, and Erwin’s sure the metal isn’t as smooth as it was a moment ago.

The rider tilted the bike, stretching his foot down farther than normal to steady himself. Regardless of his size, he still managed to hold the bike up just fine. The man pulled off his helmet revealing a round, pale face framed by dark strands of hair. His eyes, sharp and grey, were glaring back at him as his nose wrinkled in disgust. He let out a frustrated grunt swinging his leg over his motorbike in one swift motion. He marched to the back with clenched fists, sizing up the very visible dent Erwin had left on his bike.

Erwin reluctantly emerged from Mike's car and was about to apologize. He did feel bad. He hadn’t meant to ding his bike. The words were just on the tip of his tough before the other man cut him off.

“Die Shitting, Asshole!” He hissed in frustration.

For a moment, Erwin was too stunned to speak. The other man continued to yell, but his words were falling on deaf ears. All Erwin could hear were those three words that he’d resented all his life. Words that caused so much grief, so much frustration. Words that meant he had to keep in right arm covered at all times.

Rage flared up inside him. His cheeks burned. He didn’t even think about the words he was saying when he yelled out, “YOU...SHITTY MIDGET!!!”

Then the dark haired man’s anger faded suddenly, replaced by a look of perplexed shock. It lasted only a second though, before his pale skin blushed in a heated realization much like Erwin.

Erwin was on him in a second, tackling him to the ground with the sheer size of his body. On the pavement of the school parking lot, the two soulmates found themselves in an all-out brawl in front of a gathering crowd.

* * *

Kuchel Ackerman and Kasimir Smith both received similar phone calls from the main office asking them to come down to the school in response to a fight. Both parents entered the school confused and concerned about their children’s sudden outburst. Neither ever got into fist-fights at school. Erwin was a model student and a good kid. Levi… he had a knack for finding trouble, but he had a good heart. Kuchel can’t imagine what would have landed him in the principle's office before his first day at his new school even began.

Neither parent had to wait long before the principle invited them into the office where their sons sat waiting. When they stepped in, Kasimir gasped, and Kuchel’s jaw dropped.

The two boys were seated beside each other, but angrily avoiding eye contact. They were both covered in the battle scars of torn shirts, bloodied knuckles and noses, disheveled hair, and were caked in brown patches of both dirt and forming bruises.

The two parents stared bewildered at their battered sons.

Kasimir was the first to speak. “What happened?”

Without saying a word. Erwin and Levi raised their covered arms.

**Author's Note:**

> I love this prompt so much. it's always so much fun to read thought I do a little fic for it.
> 
> I like the idea of Levi and Erwin getting off to a rocky start and not instantly being in love. Erwin's already pretty annoyed that Levi couldn't have picked something more polite to say when they first met but he did Levi just as bad. XD. Yep, they both have sleeves.


End file.
